This application claims priority to Application No. DE 101 15 542.5 which was filed in the German language on Mar. 28, 2001.
The invention relates to a nozzle for a windshield washing system of a motor vehicle, and in particular, to a nozzle having a nozzle housing with a reception well, into which a nozzle insert with a liquid-jet outlet is inserted.
Nozzles are typically arranged in motor vehicles, for example, in front of the windshield, so that, when required, the windshield can be cleaned by cleaning liquid being sprayed onto it. In different vehicles, such a nozzle, as a rule, has to be arranged at a different distance from and at a different angle of inclination to the windshield. The latter is necessary, so that the liquid jet impinges onto the windshield in a region which is optimum for cleaning the windshield.
The nozzle housing is therefore conventionally produced specifically for the vehicle as an injection molding. Different injection molds are necessary for this purpose, thus incurring considerable costs.
The Siemens AG patent application no. 100 20 044.3 discloses a nozzle for the windshield washing system of a motor vehicle, in which the nozzle insert can be inserted into the reception well in two different ways. This results, depending on the orientation of the spray-nozzle insert, in two different spray angles, thus affording the possibility of adapting the nozzle to two different vehicles.
The invention specifies a nozzle for a windshield washing system of a motor vehicle, by means of which different jet inclination angles can be set and which can therefore be used for different vehicles.
In one embodiment of the invention, the nozzle insert can be inserted into the nozzle housing at different angles. What is achieved thereby is that the jet angle can be adapted to the different conditions in various motor vehicles. The result of this is that one and the same nozzle can be used for different motor vehicles, the jet angle being changed solely by the nozzle insert being inserted into the nozzle housing at different inclination angles. It is thereby possible to make marked cost savings which relate both to the costs for injection molds and to the storage costs.
In one aspect of the invention, the nozzle housing has means for fixing the nozzle insert at the different inclination angles. What is achieved thereby is that the angle of the liquid-jet outlet remains permanently set at the value which is optimum for the respective vehicle. This may be achieved, in particular, by the nozzle housing having a fine toothing, via which the different predefined inclination angles of the nozzle insert are fixed. Radial displacement of the nozzle insert is reliably avoided by means of the fine toothing.
In another embodiment, different inclination angles of the nozzle insert are fixed in a predetermined grid. The predetermined grid may, in particular, define constant angular intervals at which the inclination angle of the nozzle insert can be adjusted. The grid also makes it possible to change the inclination angle in different angular steps, the individual angular steps being adapted to the desired inclination angles for individual vehicle types. The setting of the nozzle insert for a specific vehicle type is thereby implemented in a particularly simple way.
In still another embodiment, the nozzle insert is fixed at a center of rotation common to the inclination angles. A reliable fastening of the nozzle insert in the nozzle housing is achieved as a result. In particular, the nozzle insert can be fixed in the nozzle housing by means of a snap connection at the center of rotation common to the inclination angles.
The change in the inclination angle of the nozzle insert can be achieved by the nozzle insert being pressed out of the reception well, the nozzle subsequently being pivoted in the well into the desired inclination angle and the nozzle insert being fixed once again by being pressed into the nozzle well.
The nozzle insert may be, in particular, a fluidic element which is designed in such a way that the emerging liquid jet alternates between two outlet angles.